Dotcom icon ISP Breathe inhales Fast4

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Breathe Networks Limited (BNL) has acquired small ISP Fast4 for an undisclosed sum.

The merger will see Fast4 bosses Steve Kaye and Nick Pulsford become Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technical Officer of BNL.

Fast4 will survive as an independent brand. Kaye said: "Fast4 users will not experience any changes as Fast4 has simply become part of the BNL group. We are looking forward to working with Marcus and his team to grow the business, and with other ISPs who want to benefit from our combined strength and operational platform."

Readers with longish memories will remember Breathe for its spectacular modern urbanist belly-flop as a free dial-up ISP during the dotcom years. The assets and brand were scooped up Great Universal Stores in 2001 and then offloaded it to Affinity Internet Holdings six months later.

Two years after that it was flogged to Net Access Limited, which went titsup in 2006. Breathe was then bought by a new company, Breathe Networks Limited.

It has since pootled along hoovering up small broadband ISPs and groups of customers, including some of the fallout from the Biscit debacle last year. ®